Meguiars #205 - The Ultimate Finishing Polish?

Its called Ultra Finishing Polish and uses Meguiars' new Super Micro Abrasive Technology (SMAT) [am I the only one who thinks SPLAT when I read/type that?!:lol:]... Its been designed to rock the best and be the best finishing polish on the market, no doubting, Meguiars have gone for the jugular of Menzerna here! But for all its advanced technology, it is really any good? Is it the best, or is it just an also-ran....?

Well - here are my thoughts


I first started trialling Meguiars #205 back in the early months of the year. It would be fair to say then that I saw a potential for this product as not only was it matching the finishes from 85RD with little learning, it was also dealing more happily with sticky paint... I went to buy some, and noticed the price: over £30 for a litre makes it quite expensive, but I went for a bottle to see what like if you really learn its ins and outs - boy, I'm glad I did!


The Theory

The vast majority of polishes that see regular use in detailing use what are known as Diminishing Abrasives - these are abrasives that break down over the period of the polishing set, gradually reducing their cut and inceasing the level of gloss they can produce. This places finite work times on them, in that you need to work them for the desired length of time to get them to break down but also once broken down, you cannot work them further for a greater result... But the good side is that they are quite "plug and play": work the polish until the residue goes clear and you pretty much gaurantee a great finish but working the abrasives

The abrasives used in Meguiars #205 (and also #105) are quite different... Unigrit, they remain abrasive at the same level throughout the polishing set and do not break down. In some ways this sounds a bit "wrong" - sure if the abrasive is not breaking down, then it will leave marring in the finish as it always cutting. But this is not the case with unigrit abrasives, simply the application styles and techniques must change to get the best from them. Unigrit is not new - Meguiars have been using them before in the Solo range, MarkV in Mystique for example. You can also vary the cut levels by varying the pad aggression and the pressure applied.

With this in mind, Meguiars #205 is a product that is designed to offer the user a lot of flexibility: pressure and pad variations allowing different finishing and cutting abilities, which we will talk a little bit more about below


In Practice

The old school Meguiars polishes, the #80-series, had long work times and diminshing abrasives... they took a bit of getting used to but were highly capable once cracked. Times moved on, however and Menzerna were beginning to forge a lead in the polish technology front with new players such as Gloss It formulating ranges that were beginning to make the humble #80-series feel dated.

Meguiars' response for finishing polises is #205, and unlike a lot of its competition, they have chosen to go down the unigrit abrasive route described above. A risky move you might think, especially given the #86 Solo polishes lack of finishing abilities compared to its competition, both in-house against #83 and on the market against Intensive Polish, Final Finish etc. But in practice is where you start to realise just how good the move is!

Flexibility is the key... If you just start with #205, and use it as you've used other finishing polishes, you will likely find it a bit mediocre... good, pleasing to use, but nothing special. But #205 is not plug and play. It needs to be learned and you need to invest time and learn to change your techniques a little to really get the best out of what it has to offer. This not only applies to varying the pad to vary the cut, but also varying pressures and speeds midset to achieve the results you are looking for.

I have personally found that for finishing the best techniques are to spread the polish at slow speed, and then at moderate speeds of around 1500 - 1800rpm, work with medium pressure over the rotary head. This medium pressure allows for correction, removal of hazing and working of the abrasives... For finishing, I reduce the speed to 900 - 1200rpm and reduce the pressure to very light, this reduces the cut from the abrasives and transforms to polish from lightly correcting to burnishing. Working times vary from paint to paint, and it is best to experiment a little and learn what will achieve the best possible finish.

The beauty of this polish at this stage was becoming obvious for me - forget it being a pour on the pad and off you go polish. No way. There is much more to #205 than this! If you are willing to put in some time learning and manipulating your technique you can really reap rewards from #205 in terms of working flexibility from a single polish, that has left me feeling fundamental limitations to products using diminshing abrasives. Yes you can vary your technique with these too, but there's a finite working time, and finite level of cut that just reduces your full potential with the products - its a bit like a sports car with the traction control stuck on, you get a great finish automatically, but given a bit more freedom you can do just very slightly better. This is how #205 has left me feeling in practice.


Results

Enough talk... lets let the piccies do the speaking now. First of all, a couple of direct sunlight pictures, showing the clarity achieved from #205 used as a finishing polish on details - both cases applied as discussed above, medium then light pressure to burnish the finish:





On soft paint (Ford above) and more medium hardness paint (Ferrari below), the clairty achieved by learning the polish and the paint was hugely impressive for me.

Some examples of the polish finish under the Sun Gun on recent details where I have used #205 as the finishing polish:































When assessing the clarity of the finish, look at the metallic flake ping (sealants dont achieve this, a properly burnished finish does ), and the detail of the light sources in that you can not only see no swirls, the reflection is good to the point you can see the detail of the Sun Gun / Camera Flash

A few pics of cars, finished with #205 as the finishing polish - waxed here as well, but of course this adds little or nothing to the finish. The results you see below owe their clarity, depth and gloss to the finishing polish used, which was #205 in all cases...

































Have to say, I am very impressed with how it has been working for me lately and based on my current results with it, #205 will become a staple part of my detailing


My Opinion

Best - its a very difficult term, and a very hard thing to say that something is the "best" but for me, #205 certainly comes closer than any other finishing polish to achieving this accolade. Every other I think is great, lovely finishing but just as good really as the next one... 85RD was the exception, but now #205 for me is just that little bit better as once you have learned to be flexible with it, think on your feet, this polish rewards your learning much more... it takes the gloves off, and leaves you, the user, with more choices and this for me is what makes #205 the best finishing polish on the market today... yes, I do think it is better than 85RD. And better still, it has a bit more cut than 85RD when you want it too! But vary your working style and technique to achieve the cut, the paint removal that you are looking for.

Nothings perfect though! The price - over £30 a bottle! Its nearly double that of 85RD, but it isn't doubly as good, remember 85RD is a superb finishing polish... but somehow, the cost will not stop me buying a product which is freeing up in some ways my rotary style, and really allowing me to push my own finishing abilities to new levels.

Against its main competition, #205 is not beaten. 85RD is superb, it is the main rival product but it is fundamentally limited (not a bad thing, its a superb polish) and this just hands the advantage slightly to #205 if you are willing to learn how to maximise its potential. Other finishing polishes from Gloss It, 3M for me just lack that little something over 85RD, and alongside #205 they are still very good indeed but for me, just not quite as good.

Overall - #205 Ultra Finishing Polish. I think Meguiars have done well with the name here, a cracking product for the rotary polisher and well work considering if you are looking to take your rotary finishing up just a notch

Review of performance on DA to follow after more experimentation :thumb:

 

Absolutely awesome writeup! I don't think I'm going to try 205 yet because I'm not that experienced yet, I still have to try 106fa and 85rd that I have sitting around. I'll keep it in mind in the future though, thanks very much!

 

I think I'm ready to try it. I don't have anything sitting around and SSTG was nice enough to give me samples of 105 and 205. It's time. thanks for the write up...:thumb:

 

I love m205/ red pad for the most possible gloss.

 

Funny. I was JUST looking at 205 at an auto body supply shop. I almost picked it up, but I haven't tried my full bottle of 85rd yet. Better get some use out of that first.

 

Oh, and thank you VERY much for the review. Very informative!

 

Great write up. Thanks!

Question... How is it to use during hotter temperatures? What about humidity? Menzerna is known to be difficult to use when the ambient temps and humidities aren't ideal. Have you used this product in different weather conditions?

Thanks!

 

thanks for the review and piccies

I just got 105 and sounds like i need to get 205!

 

I've used this product in damp winter months on sticky paint (which drove Menzerna nuts lol) and it was gliding comfortably... hotter temperatures, hottest io have used it in was 27degC ambient in a sun trap, but this is Scotland so not as hot as you guys other side of the Atlantic get... but it still had a great long work time, gliding rotary and easy to use. Like the #80-series it does seem very flexible, but still got more time with it before it will have been in more conditions with me

 

Thank you for the write up. I really need to step up to a rotary. I have been using 105 and 205 with a DA with some great results.

 

Thanks for the write up! You would make many at MOL very happy with that! I really do appreciate the time you put forth to provide all of us with this information.

 

I find 205 to be a very interesting product. Im my experience with it I feel exactly the same as you Dave, in that the polish is capable of different things just with varying pressure and pad.

On medium and harder paints I do not find many flaws with it but on softer clears such as my onw non metallic black audi clear I find it does not finish down 100% like PO87 will or Ultrafina.

I will give it another shot, as of late 85rd has been my go to. Thank you for the very insightful review!:applause:

 

I have no doubt that Dave will elaborate on this when he has time. On both the details in the post the White Vauhall Astra and the silver Vauxhall vertra. Both have very soft paint. On both occasions Dave has show me that it is better to exchange the polishing Pad with a finishing one. While working with the 205. Both car finished down very sharp and the clarity and finish was fantastic.
I to am a fan of 85rd and this was my go get product for finishing the detail. But will have to think again and look at further options.
Have a go with a finish pad see what you think and how you get on.
Gordon

 

I disagree with Dave regarding the working time of current Diminishing abrasives
Working time can be altered to anything from it's current four to over ten minutes with some cheap additives

Parrafin oil is one.
Natural oils (I use some from Tasmania, Australia)
Gloss it EVP
Black Baron pad lube
Driven to Perfection Quick spray (silicone and alcohol free QD with incredible gloss and cleaning abilities) one of its ingredients makes polishes spread really wet and oily
Glycerin - can trick you though if too much is used

 

I quite agree re: work times with regard to physical time you can run to polisher under the oils... however, my point with diminshing abrasives is that once they are broken down, their actual physical cutting ceases and you can take 85RD to this pointt after which continuing to work the polish, while possible, is pointless... unigrit abrasives give you far moire play time i terms of the abrasives, irrespective of the oils you add or dont add as the polish is continuing to cut (to your desired level by varying pressure, speed). This makes it far more flexible than a product with dimishing abrasives where the abrasives (not the lube) have a finite work time.

 

here's a shot of the oily film that never ended
this is from the natural oils (two tiny drops on the east and west sections of the pad face)

it may look just like how any polish looks but it was never ending and makes causing holograms with a rotary totally impossible.

This is Prima swirl - spread at 600rpm then straight to 1900 rpm until broken down
back to 1500 for fifteen left to right passes
back to 1200 for the same amount
back to 900 for a few more passes
back to 600 for four minutes worth of passes

2 x prepsol wipedowns produced this


results with swirl on its own before menz 85rd x rotary and orbital

 

cheers for the technical explanation dave.

surely though by the time (with or without the oils added) a diminishing abrasive breaks down, the user has removed all the marks (100% correction in one step) and then jewels the finish down at lower and lower rpm

I will definately try it in the near future
could you give us newbies to 205 a rundown of your technique with a rotary
rpms/pressure etc

so if this never breaks down, how does one jewel the finish down to achieve the menzerna 85rd like gloss?
their obviously is a technique
and if they never break down, why call them self dimishing abrasives.

 

The fact the abrasives dont break down per se is what worried me when I first starting using #205, as how could it be better than abrasives which are getting finer and finer with working? And the answer didn't lie in standard Zenith point methods, where the lower speeds at the end of the set are used for jewelling.

The key is in the pad (keep it a soft finishing pad for refining and jewelling) and in the pressures applied. Think of 205 as a polish with a manual gearbox With 85RD, an automatic, the abrasives break down and go to refining stage for you, you do nothing really other than altering your machine speeds but you can keep constant pressure throughout in my experience and get a stunning result with it... 205, you have control of the abrasive cut, and you control it with the pressure applied and the machine speed... when you want to reduce the cut and go to jewelling, reduce the pressure, slow the machine speed down a little and slow the machine movement speed as well - a bit like changing down a gear

A typical set for me will be:

• Spread at 600rpm, no pressure, fast machine movement
• Begin working at 1200rpm for a couple of passes, light pressure to spread the oils
• Work at 1500 - 1800rpm, medium pressure, varying the machine movement speed to suit until any defects/hazing cleared
• Keep going at 1500 - 1800rpm for a minute or two, refining the finish at an early stage, again medium pressure, getting lighter to the end of the set, slow the machine movement speed down as you go
• Reduce speed to 1200, then 900rpm, slow machine movements and only light pressure and make several passes at this jewelling stage until you are happy

That is just generics, but tinker around with that and see what you come up with... Vary your working speeds, pressures, movement speeds and pads... 205 is highly flexible

 

thanks for all this great info :applause:

I need to order this polish!

 

never tried PO85rd but m205 is one hell of a finishing polish